Friday, December 23, 2011

Rebel Reviews - VC54 ARC Trooper Commander

Very sneaky Hasbro, not too often that you can sneak a legit 2003-04 era Clone Wars figure into the line, but Hasbro has managed to get us "Fordo" into the line and on a Vintage card to boot! Is the ARC Trooper Commander a figure that you'll want?

Hasbro has attempted to stick Fordo into the line before: we had an almost statue in the Hunt for Grievous Toys 'R' Us exclusive Battle Pack and an animated Fordo in the Clone Wars ARC Trooper Battle Pack based on his ARC gear. This is the third time we received Fordo in his ARC gear, but the first of his Phase II gear. How does he do?

We'll look at the base Clone Trooper body. It is based on the VC45 Clone Trooper I reviewed the other day: every piece of articulation has a ball joint. His hips have full range of motion, his wrists have the hinged range that we loved in the Clone Wars line and his shoulders can't fully extend upwards. This is unfortunate but in no way hurts it. The belt has obviously been removed to account for the new accessories. His head is new, based on his goatee'd head and is a new mold.

One thing to note: his red paint only appears on his knees, wrists, shoulders. This is accurate for his Phase II gear, but not his Phase I ARC gear. There are full lines down his arms in his ARC gear, so it is not accurate to that figure. (But let's be honest, you have red ARCs already standing in for that armor.)

Phase I armor: his Phase I armor features a helmet, removable kama, belt and pauldron. The pauldron fits well, obviously. The helmet doesn't look to bad by any means, it's a little bit bigger than the non-removable helmets but I think that's fine, it looks more like a helmet should when it sits on a human sized head. (Have you seriously thought about the figures before this when helmets weren't removable? They're so small!) The kama has a stretchy band around the waist and it can go on and off with little to no real difficulty. I like this way, and it helps it stay small enough to fit under a belt. The belt has two holsters for his two pistols.

Phase II armor: Of course, this one comes with less. His belt fits well, once you figure out how to put it on. It's not rocket science by any means, but I definitely put it on the wrong way the first time. Not that I'm incompetent..but yeah. The belt only has a holster for one pistol, just like the cartoon. Everything on this incarnation of "Fordo" is accurate, so this is the one you'll probably display. (Which is good, because like I said, you own red ARCs you already use for him I can imagine.)

All in all? Great base figure and the accessories make it truly special. I wish there were more opportunities for Hasbro to jam two figures into one bubble, especially with the great base body like this Clone. Buy one, buy two. Hasbro is re-releasing him in greater numbers so that we can pick up more. Thank the Maker - I didn't see this guy for a while.